S21 E5 – Finding Second Careers in Design with Hannah Crowell

This week on The Chaise Lounge, Nick welcomes Hannah Crowell, the principal of the Nashville-based Crowell & Company Interiors. They talk about Crowell’s journey from theater major to successful designer, “Designing Women” and what exactly Nashville hot chicken is.

Songwriters to hockey players to now

When Hannah Crowell growing up, she didn’t know how many potential careers there are that weren’t performance-based. She grew up in a family of musicians, and did theater all through school, even ending up with a theater degree. As an adult, she realized it wasn’t actually for her.

In a life coaching session, she inspired herself to pursue interior design, so she went back to school and started a business with a partner who, through her husband, had access to a client base that included a lot of the Nashville Predators hockey team.

But Crowell got divorced and her partner’s husband died, so they both needed to change some things. Their partnership dissolved and Crowell was in a situation where she had no other option but to hustle as hard as possible. Today, her own firm Crowell & Company is almost 4 years old and handles mostly residential design.

Brooklyn Designs

Also on this episode, Nick talks to Kristin Coleman from Novità Communications a design-and-architecture-focused PR firm that co-produces Brooklyn Designs. Brooklyn Designs is an event held, appropriately, in Brooklyn, New York to showcase the talents of local designers and makers. This year’s edition is scheduled for May 10-12, and New York designers should take a look at the website to see if work they do might be a fit for exhibition or if their expertise might be well-suited to a speaking engagement as part of Brooklyn Designs’ program of speeches and presentations.

I think living in California and also being raised in a home with free-spirited artists has informed my design sense a great deal. I think I have a more airy and ethereal approach that isn’t for everyone, but I think that’s where I’ve sort of settled as a designer.

Hannah Crowell

Chaise Lounge Updates

We’ll be covering Spring High Point Market 2019! Stay in the loop on our Instagram and Facebook pages and keep an eye our for our upcoming market events!

Our new podcast Coast to Coast Design is live! Give it a listen to learn about just how many ways there are to run a design business.

Upcoming Markets

Wrap Up

If you would like to hear more episodes, please visit us on iTunes,Spotify or your favorite podcasting app! We’d love it if you post a review, you may even hear your review read live on our next podcast. Also, find The Chaise Lounge on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. With that said, keep dreaming big, and keep designing a great design business. See ya!